How to Rock your enemies as Jungle Malphite in League of Legends!

Generally when talking Champions that one might use in order to break out of bronze/silver on their way climbing the ranked ladder a lot of conventional (old) champions tend to be overlooked. Yes, soon I will be a “conventional” man . I see a lot of players going on and on about the flashy fast and exciting champions such as Yasuo, Zed, Ekko and so on, people are starting to lose touch with Champions this game was built on. I rarely see Malphite now or Warwick. So let’s bring them back, let’s talk about “old school” champions. Let’s talk about Malphite now, better yet, Jungle Malphite even after the latest patch in which they messed with his health regen and his E damage.

There is a world of perfect harmony, where all are part of the whole. The Monolith is the essence of all creation, and its denizens are but singular pieces of it. It is beautiful in its symmetry, and in its almost complete lack of uncertainty. The rocky beings that live there know their place and work to fulfill their duties to the fullest extent, functioning almost as a superorganism or hive. Malphite has always strived to live up to his full potential, as his own personal part of the whole, serving the role of a distinguished creature questing to enforce his people’s flawless vision of order.

One day, without warning, a dimensional rift opened, and he was summoned across the cosmos to the world of Runeterra. The transition was painful and terrifying for him, as he was cut off from the song of his people and the Monolith – things that had been ever-present in him since the day he was born. He raged, trapped in the Summoning Circle, as those who had called him made their plea. Runeterra was a world that had nearly been consumed by its disharmony. It was a world that needed champions to bring order out of chaos. It was to that end that the rock-creature was summoned, so that he could aid them in this quest. Looking past his own fear and apprehension, Malphite could see that this was a respectable goal, and one in which he could participate – perhaps uniquely so. Today, as part of the League of Legends, he hammers those who would seek to upset Valoran’s movement toward order, especially turning his attention to those that wield chaotic magic. Unfortunately, Malphite has also begun to change, as he has been forced to face his own profound loneliness among the world’s vibrant individuality.

Beware, minions of chaos! The Shard of the Monolith has come.

Malphite is an extremely powerful Champion to play. While normally built as a straight up tank with no room for subtleties, he has really good AP scaling and together with his ultimate Unstoppable Force he can easily one-shot squishy champions or at least serve them up on a platter for the ADC to scoop up and get fed. With this build, he is a follow-up assassin as opposed to the typical meta Malphite engage tactics. His early-mid game is extremely strong with this build, but he starts to lag behind a bit late game (so my suggestion would be not to let the game get to late game, nobody likes to spend 45 minutes in a game, it’s bad for your back).

Pros / Cons With This Build

Pros

+ Really high burst damage

+ Fairly good CC

+ Has high base defenses

+ Can disengage or escape using the almighty R

+ Off-meta (low elo players don’t know how to counter his plays)

+ Shield keeps health fairly high in the jungle

+Allow for creative plays and tactics

AP Malphite jungle is really powerful for a few reasons. First, while his pre-6 ganks are just OK, once he gets ult his ganks are nearly unavoidable without Flash. His abilities’ AP scalings are pretty high and with max CDR, on a very low cooldown too. Full combo (REQW+smite) should kill most squishies if they have anywhere less than 80% HP or so. His passive shield lets him farm with somewhat high health, which is good in case you get invaded (which seems to be the trend in League of legends atm) on or need to gank.

Cons

+ Pre-lvl 6 ganks are not that scary or effective

+ High mana costs

+ Low DPS

+ Starts lagging behind late game.

With all the benefits of AP Malphite comesweaknesses too(nobody’s perfect, right?). Early game, his high mana costs limit his ability to fight/gank too well especially if you need the mana to farm with. Pre-lvl 6 ganks may force the enemy to wats a flash, but probably not grant a kill unless your lane has a lot of CC , the enemy already wasted flash or the set-up was made properly with the lane you are helping. Also, if someone lives through your first combo, you will have a tough time killing them unless they have no sustain. As we don’t build tanky, without R or flash you can be killed pretty quickly(so gank if you can get out safely, otherwise you are just feeding the enemy a free kill).

Spells

Flash is the most suitable spell in the game for Jungle Malphite because it allows for a multitude of plays to be made. ( Flash followed by R can cover a lot of distance quickly)

Smite is totally necessary for farming, getting the jungle item and Dragon/Baron control. But then again we are talking about Jungler Malphite so Smite is kinda obvious, don’t you think?

Taking any spells other than these is not advised and counter-productive. Smite is essential and a different spell than Flash limit’s your ability to help the team.

Runes

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

9

Greater Seal of Armor

9

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist

9

Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed

3

Marks:

9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration-I like these to amplify the amount of damage we do. More effective than AP marks in my opinion. Can be replaced with Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration.

Seals:

9x Greater Seal of Armor-These give you the ability to survive in the jungle as well as boost the damage of your Ground Slam

Glyphs:

9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist-These keep you alive late game when mages such as Lux or Veigar can one-shot you too. Can be replaced with Greater Glyph of Magic Resist.

Quints:

3x Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed-These help you farm more effectively than Greater Quintessence of Ability Power, but either could work.

Masteries

Most of the masteries are variable, but we need to have Thunderlord’s Decree and Intelligence .

Malphite’s passive, Granite Shield allows him to take a lot less damage while farming and ganking. Typically it is worth waiting the few seconds for it to recharge before starting the next camp early.

Seismic Shard is a pretty strong ability. It has a somewhat high AP scaling for a relatively low cooldown late game. The main use of it is to proc Thunderlord’s Decree , catch up or run away from/to someone.

Brutal Strikes boosts your armor a bit and gives your AAs a boost. We generally do not need this ability for damage as opposed to tank Malphite. However, it helps make farming easier and faster.

Ground Slam scales off of AP and armor, therefore Zhonya’s Hourglass is strong on Malphite. It does a lot of AOE damage in a circle and slows attack speed.

Unstoppable Force has a 100% AP scaling and makes you travel very quickly to a place and knocks up the enemies. This ability is what makes Malphite so strong.

Level up E first, then W, then Q. Max R whenever possible, then E>Q>W

Items

Stalker’s Blade – Runeglaive This is the best first item for AP junglers.

Zhonya’s Hourglass is core on Malphite. It gives you AP and armor, which is exactly what we need for damage, but what makes it special is it’s passive. It allows you to go full ham and then just wait for your team or dodge important spells like Requiem or Final Spark.

Abyssal Scepter gives good ability power and magic resist, but the passive of this item is what makes it strong. It reduces all nearby enemies’ MR by 20, which, unless they are STACKING MR, is more than what the Void Staff gives.

Morellonomicon gives us AP, mana, CDR and the ability to inflict grievous wounds, which is strong against champions such as Swain who rely heavily on healing. I would recommend this item if you do not need any defenses.

Generally buy Ionian Boots of Lucidity unless you already have 45% CDR or the enemy team is stacking MR, in which case you’d buy Sorcerer’s Shoes. If you keep dying because of magic damage or CC, buy Mercury’s Treads. If they have a strong ADC or physical damage dealer, buy Ninja Tabi.

Rabadon’s Deathcap is the strongest AP item in the game, but doesn’t give any other useful stats. Only buy this if you’re super far ahead.

Void Staff gives a good amount of AP and % magic penetration. I would only buy this if the enemy generally has 100+ MR. Combined with Abyssal Scepter, the enemies’ MR will be nearly nonexistent.

Rylai’s Crystal Scepter gives AP and health as well as a passive that makes it easier to catch up to enemies. Buy this with Liandry’s Torment for lots of damage.

Luden’s Echo gives AP and extra burst damage. Similar to Rabadon’s Deathcap, it does not provide many useful stats besides flat damage.

Dead Man’s Plate gives armor and health, which is good for E damage and passive shield. The movement speed from it gives good roaming power.

Randuin’s Omen is like Dead Man’s Plate, but better in teamfights for the attack speed slow combined with the movement speed slow.

Frozen Heart is a good item with armor, CDR and mana, but it lacks health and so does not benefit Granite Shield in the same way that Randuin’s Omen and Dead Man’s Plate do.

Iceborn Gauntlet gives armor, CDR and mana and a Sheen proc. If a game runs very long, I would recommened selling the jungle item, buying this and trading boots in for Sorcerer’s Shoes.

Thornmail gives a lot of armor, like Frozen Heart but gives no health. It is only good if an ADC is well fed (with a balanced diet of ADC/Support).

Zz’Rot Portal gives armor and MR and a passive than can be extremely frustrating to deal with for the other team.

Banshee’s Veil is good against champions with one very strong ability such as Malzahar. I would normally buy this instead of Spirit Visage.

Spirit Visage would be good if you have someone to spam heals on your team, like a Sona or Soraka.

Mikael’s Crucible is good against teams that have champions like Veigar, Warwick or Malzahar for the benefit of your team mates.

Locket of the Iron Solari gives you a shield for team mates as well as AOE MR for team fights.

Quicksilver Sash is good if you find yourself getting CCD to death repeatedly (this is why I am turning gray early).

Sterak’s Gage is good for diving in and not dying which I would not advise since you are AP.

Early Game

IF ON RED SIDE:

Get a leash from botlane on krugs( Smite). Then go to red, take a health potion or two. Do raptors next. After that you can gank or keep farming. If you keep farming, go to wolves, gromp Smite, then blue( Smite) and recall to buy items.

IF ON BLUE SIDE:

Get a leash from botlane on gromp( Smite). Then go to blue, take a health potion or two. Do wolves next. After that you can gank or keep farming. If you keep farming, go to chickens, red( Smite), then krugs( Smite) and recall to buy items.

Mid Game

By this point you should try to keep a Vision Ward ward on drag and take it if you kill the enemy botlane and/or the jungler. You should have ult too, and so try to gank a lane whenever it’s up.

Late Game

By this point you do a lot of damage but the enemy team should have more MR and an ADC able to kill you or sustain through your damage. Keep a ward on baron. You are basically an assassin, so DO NOT be the first one to go in. Also, if you have a very advantageous fight, go ahead and take baron.